Déjà vu All Over Again
by AllKindsOfWeird
Summary: Roxas gets the feeling that these memories might be a little more than a severe case of Déjà vu.


It was 7 a.m. Groggy and still tired, Roxas opened his eyes to an offending beam of sunlight that passed through his curtains. Rolling over he grabbed for his clock with two hands. Stationing himself carefully on the edge of the bed he read the time. Lately Roxas was having a difficult time sleeping late like any other normal teenager. Roxas figured it was just another thing to add to the ever-growing list. He wasn't normal. Strange things seemed to happen to Roxas that he simply couldn't figure out. From what he was told, déjà vu happened every once in a while to a normal person. Roxas felt that strange sense of having experienced something before almost daily. And the sensing of it was strong. He had these dreams as a child that, in one variation or another, came true. His friends told him that he was being dramatic… again.

"But, it's not your fault. It's a symptom of S.E.D."

"Huh?"

"Severe Emo Disorder."

"Hayner, I'm not emo. Would you quit saying that?"

"Roxas, look at you…" With a wild-handed motion Hayner pointed at Roxas' clothes, "you're covered in checkerboard!"

"I happen to like checkerboard…," _and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!_

"And do you also think Evanescence songs are about your life?"

"No, I do not think Evanescence songs are about my life. Would you shut up already?"

By eight-thirty Roxas was ready for his run. The day was sunny and brisk, just the way he liked it. He called his aunts dog and hooked her up to the harness. She was a beautiful German shepherd with all too much energy. Roxas was hoping a good run would tire her enough for him to get some school work done. The jog itself was pleasant. The cool air rushed passed Roxas' face and the concrete beneath him felt solid and real. It was on the way back that Roxas felt the déjà vu again. He was passing a two story, light green house with a small cherry tree decorating the front yard. Walking down the porch steps was a girl. Roxas knew he'd seen her before. He could have sworn it. Automatically he smiled at her. _Don't trip_, he thought to himself. Her red hair was tied back into a pony tail that didn't seem to do much in the way of managing the wild hair. She had on gardening gloves and was carrying a pot. She noticed him but Roxas didn't get a chance to see if she smiled back because he was suddenly stopped short. His aunt's dog, Lexi, was hunched over in a familiar position. She was getting ready to… well, there was no stopping her now.

"No, no, not here you dumb dog!" The shepherd both didn't notice or care about what Roxas wanted and did as nature intended right on the girl's lawn. Roxas was mortified. _So uncool. _The girl walked across the street apparently going to her neighbor's house. Roxas wanted to know if she got the same sense of déjà vu as he did just now but any chance he had of finding out was blown. Ugh, and he now had to pick up the crap that was gently steaming in the breeze.

When Roxas got home he put the dog in the back yard and told her that there were squirrels hiding under the shed. The dog went crazy and ran feverishly all over the backyard. Now, he had peace and quiet while he washed sweat off his face and rehydrated with a large glass of water. He spent the next however many minutes wondering where he had seen that girl before. Her hair was like a beacon of memory. He bet despite its obvious unruliness that the girl more often wore it down and not halfheartedly pulled back with a hair tie. Did she garden? No, she doesn't seem like the type. Actually, Roxas wasn't so sure why he'd been so quick to assume 'she'. There was the pretty face but it was more androgynous than specifically feminine. There was also that narrow waist but she/he was also wearing a gardening apron. A call from upstairs shook him from his line of thinking.

"Roxas!" A female voice called, "Roxas, come up here. We need to talk." His mother, Janette, was only happy when she was very very involved in Roxas' life. This was a problem considering Roxas' preference toward privacy. He groaned silently to himself and dragged his feet up the staircase, which wasn't at all creaky by the way, to his mother's room.

Janette was a good woman, a good wife, and a good mother. Good, certainly, but not great. She tended to generalize his problems and minimize his successes. He didn't mind too much normally except when she began to talk too much. Roxas wasn't the type to indulge (or care about) gossip. Unfortunately for Janette, her son considered most of what she talked about gossip.

"Roxas, I'm glad you're giving this place a shot. It's a really nice town after all. Your father works very hard to give us this house and everything in it. So, when school starts up again you'll go out for cross country?"

"Just because I ran today doesn't mean I want to join a team." Then there was the pressure she'd put on him. He secretly felt that she relived her youth as a star athlete through him and his various successes with long distance running. She'd push him until he gave in and tried out when the beginning of the season rolled around.

"Roxas, you'll try out. You love cross country. Besides that, your father and I love to see you succeed. Would you take that away from us? You're all we have, Roxas. You'll understand when you have a child." She looked at him with those pleading eyes. They were blue like his only hers had faded somewhat with age. On her left hand after her wedding ring was a ring with a sapphire stone. Roxas' birth stone. She got it made when he was six and said that whenever she wears it she'll be thinking of him. When he was six this made him so happy. Sometimes, like now, he wished she'd take it off for a while.

"Mom," Roxas' voice was almost a whimper. That look she was giving him now along with those cliché and sentimental words always took a rough toll on him. "I haven't made up my mind yet. I just want to think about it for a while." That would serve to keep her at bay but only for a short time. Tryouts were about three weeks away and she would want him to be in tip-top performing shape.

"Alright, nothing was ever achieved simply by thinking about it." She delivered a bright smile in her son's direction and clicked on the T.V. Roxas was _not_ hanging around for '_The House Wives of Orange County'_.

Roxas didn't care much for daytime television. He liked books. One of his favorites was by C. S. Lewis, _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_, a part of the _Chronicles of Narnia_ series. He couldn't concentrate on it though. Images of that girl-guy whatever we're floating around inside his head. That sense of déjà vu got stronger. So strong in fact that it was almost overwhelming. Roxas felt not only that he'd met this person before but that he'd known him/her even. This was getting irritating. Roxas couldn't get these thoughts off his mind and they were going nowhere. It was like being on the brink of an epiphany and then not having one.

There were trees everywhere in this new neighborhood. The air smelled nice and almost sweet. He couldn't help but feel calmed by it. That is until he saw something among the branches of a large oak. Squinting he still couldn't make out more than a pair of yellow glowing eyes and a shadowy black body. By the time he'd seen this much, whatever it was he had seen was gone.

An eardrum searing screech tore through the quite. Distracted, he didn't see what was coming until it was too late.


End file.
